Red Moon
by Agarwaen Lhach
Summary: My reply to Josh Potter’s challenge. A gang of vampires and werewolves attacks Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Tonks, and Lupin, turning all of them. Who sent them, and what do they want? HPGW, RWHG. OP spoilers.
1. Red Moon Rising

Summary: My reply to Josh Potter's challenge. A gang of vampires and werewolves attacks Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Tonks, and Lupin, turning all of them. Who sent them, and what do they want? HP/GW, RW/HG. OP spoilers.  
  
Disclaimer: None mine. For once, I think I succeeded in keeping my awful Mary Sue-inclined OCs OUT of one of my fics!!! Stupid things just won't get out of my mind! Of course, Ursula & Co are mine. I had to introduce some characters!  
  
I have been working on this for about six months now as a writer's block entertainment, but never had any reason to post it. Then I went into Master Eldryn's site and saw a challenge that was practically for my fic. As for length, this sucker's probably going to be closer to 100,000 words with all my evil plot bunnies. Hence, I gleefully post Red Moon!  
  
As you can probably tell, Ursula is based quite a bit on two of my favorite Buffy villains. Her insanity comes from Drusilla and dress taste from Glory. Scary, huh? Her name is from one of Anne Rice's characters.  
  
Red Moon  
  
Prologue: Red Moon Rising  
  
Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Harry and Tonks laughed and chattered as they made their way back from their long day of shopping. Tonks had been sent to keep an eye on the Frightening Foursome, partly to keep them away from trouble and partly to keep trouble away from them. Lupin had been sent too, but he was trailing behind them as a tame wolf, seeing as it was a full moon.  
  
"Who's the DADA teacher?" Ginny said randomly.  
  
"I'm sorry, Ginny, but I just can't tell you," Tonks said airily, waving a hand. "It'll have to be a surprise."  
  
"She almost had you," Ron grumbled.  
  
"You'll find out at the feast," Hermione told him, smacking his creeping hand away from her bag. "And I told you I'd give you your presents soon enough."  
  
Hermione had teased the other three Gryffindors by telling them she'd bought them presents in America but wouldn't give them out until they were on the train. This, of course, nearly killed them.  
  
Lupin's head suddenly whipped back and forth from side to side, as if searching the alley. Tonks stepped back and touched his head.  
  
"Someone's here," she said warily, searching the street.  
  
"They've found us, my pet," said an eerie female voice. It sent chills down Harry's back. "Running, can't be hiding..."  
  
A gorgeous woman, somewhere in her late teens or early twenties, emerged from the shadows. She had dark ringlets of hair that cascaded to her shoulders and deep-set, gold eyes that had a wild, crazed look about them. Her hand rested on the back of a snarling werewolf. Behind Harry, Lupin growled deeply.  
  
"The little ones mustn't be out alone," she said, smoothing the fabric of her ludicrously elegant red dress. "They could get hurt."  
  
"Harry," Hermione whispered, "she's a vampire!"  
  
The vampiress chuckled. "Right she is, the little girl who likes the books. Silly little girl...silly girl..."  
  
The words sounded oddly familiar. Behind him, Lupin shifted uneasily. Harry laid a hand on his back and felt the raised hair along his spine.  
  
"They shouldn't be out alone, should they?" she continued. "No, they should be safe at home, under the covers waiting for sun to rise...cruel sun...soon they will wait for moon to rise instead."  
  
The werewolf next to her suddenly snarled and leapt forward. Lupin jumped forward in defense. Within seconds, the tame wolf was sprawled on the ground, blood leaking from a gash in his throat. Hermione screamed and slapped a hand over her mouth, stepping back into Tonks. Ginny grabbed Harry's arm so hard he felt a bruise beginning to form. The wolf stepped back and growled.  
  
Suddenly everything absolutely exploded.  
  
Tonks flew forward, whipping out her wand to use as a stake. The tip was an inch away from the vampiress's breast when a hand flew forward and caught it. She easily snapped it, threw it aside, grabbed Tonks's neck, and bit down deep. Hermione screamed again, while at the same time drawing her own wand. Everyone behind her followed suit.  
  
Then at least twenty more vampires and vampiresses, each of them accompanied by a werewolf, appeared behind the first. Ron summed up everyone's feelings in a single, explosive expletive.  
  
"Language, naughty boy," the first vampiress said, shaking a finger. The nail was over an inch long and a deep red color Harry was quite sure did not come from polish. "My friend and I will have to punish you."  
  
The forces flew forward, attacking. The four of them tried to fight them off with every curse they thought of, but there were just too many. Ron was the first to go down, tattered flesh and snapped bones hanging from a ragged shirt. Hermione followed him with deep gashes in her thigh and wrists and blood leaking from her neck. This left only Harry and Ginny standing.  
  
They instinctively backed up against each other, the army around them tightening in a close circle.  
  
"Harry," Ginny panted, "you know, I lied to Hermione when I told her I didn't fancy you anymore."  
  
Harry looked quickly at her. "I've always really kind of liked you..." The vampires drew closer, their werewolf pets backing them up. "But unless we try a few spells it won't do much good!"  
  
They fired off a few quick spells creating beams of light. Seven of the vampires burst into flames and burned to ash on the floor. Along with the six already killed, this left twenty-one werewolves and eight vampires. Harry and Ginny tried the spell again, but two of the werewolves jumped forward and bit their wands in half.  
  
"This is very bad," Ginny said quietly, looking at the broken wand handle in her hand.  
  
"You think we can do it wandless?"  
  
"We've never practiced. We could very well die ourselves."  
  
The first vampiress and a vampire stepped forward, accompanied by a werewolf. It snarled threateningly. Ginny growled at it, sounding alarmingly like a defensive lioness.  
  
"Piss of," Ginny snarled back.  
  
"You're a nasty one," the vampire replied, grinning. Ginny bared her teeth, exactly like a cat.  
  
"Six little monkeys, trotting down the street," the vampiress sang, tracing little marks in Harry's skin with her sharp fingernail. They left red tracks behind them. "Four fell down from the deadly teeth."  
  
The vampire seemed to be unable to resist any longer. He jumped forward and sank his teeth into Ginny's throat. She cried out with a last breath as her heart beat one final time. She slid to the ground.  
  
"Time for the master to join his little friend," the vampiress whispered.  
  
And she struck. The last thing Harry thought of as his blood splattered onto the cobblestone streets was, How did they find us? How did they find us? How did they find...  
  
Silence.  
  
His brain stopped working.  
  
The vampiress laughed. "The full moon is risen. Little wolves, little children of the night are here. Red moon has risen, bright as eyes, cool as dead blood spilt on the ground..." She giggled, as if drunk.  
  
As the last of the troops left the alley, the first werewolf stood over the bodies and tore a chunk of flesh from the throat of one of them. He threw his head back and swallowed it, howling triumphantly to the red moon rising in the black sky, scattered with white stars.  
  
White, the color of death. 


	2. Waking to a Nightmare

I have just discovered the true meaning of self-gloating. I searched for all HP horror fics of all ratings with the characters being Ginny and Harry, and guess how many there are besides mine? FOUR!!! Boo ya!  
  
Red Moon  
  
Chapter One: Waking to a Nightmare  
  
A red haze surrounded Harry's vision. He attempted to rub his head to fight the excruciating headache growing between his eyes, but somehow his arm wouldn't move. He felt a soft mattress under his back.  
  
"Harry, dear," said the hoarse voice of Mrs. Weasley, sounding as if she had been crying. "Harry, wake up, please."  
  
"I'm awake," he mumbled.  
  
His breathing was immediately cut off. From the feel of it, Mrs. Weasley was hugging him, her apparent solution to every problem. Surprisingly, it didn't bother him all that much.  
  
"Goodness, we were so worried! When you didn't come back to the Leaky Cauldron Fred and George went out to look for you and they found you all lying in an alley! I'm not quite sure what happened from there, they told me I blacked out, but I'm just glad you're safe for now!"  
  
Harry was surprised to see that the lack of air was causing him no trouble. "Mrs. Weasley," he said in a muffled voice. "What do you mean, for now?"  
  
She released him, and he was able to sit up and open his eyes. Curtains were drawn around the bed, with a slight gap in one side through which a beam of sunlight fell a few inches from his bed. Through the gap he saw another bed surrounded by the same drapes. Mrs. Weasley was sitting in a chair at his side. She was still in a dressing-gown, as if she had been woken in the middle of the night, and her face and eyes were red and tear- streaked. In each hand were two stiff, creamy, slightly curved objects that looked as if they had been snapped off of something. They were about as thick as a Galleon, and weren't hollow. When Harry saw the traces of red on the ends, he realized what they were with a shudder.  
  
"Mrs. Weasley..." he said uncertainly, just to make sure. "What are those?"  
  
She smiled hollowly. "Ron's ribs. They were on the ground."  
  
Harry breathed deeply and swallowed the bile rising in his throat. "W-won't he...need them?" he asked, realizing the strangeness of the inquiry.  
  
She swallowed. It appeared to be difficult. "He won't."  
  
A cold fear swept through Harry's stomach. "What do you mean?"  
  
She choked out a hollow sob. "He wasn't with the rest of you a- and.........the mediwizards said there was too much blood loss for him t-to h-have..."  
  
Harry breathed deeply, shakily. "You mean..."  
  
She nodded quietly. "Yes. Ron's dead."  
  
Harry fell back onto his pillow and ran a shaky hand through his hair to rest at the spot where neck and shoulders joined. His hand froze.  
  
His neck was wrapped in a bandage.  
  
"Mrs. Weasley," he said slowly, "exactly how many of the rest of us got here?"  
  
She swallowed hard. "You made it. Hermione did as well, and Tonks. Lupin and...and Ginny..."  
  
Harry shook his head. "No," he denied. "They're wrong."  
  
"Harry," Mrs. Weasley said gently.  
  
"NO!" he screamed.  
  
From behind the curtains surrounding the next bed, a weak voice emanated.  
  
"Must you shout?"  
  
"Hermione?" Harry said hopefully.  
  
A pale, weak hand groped at the curtains. "Could someone help me, please?"  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea, dear," Mrs. Weasley said hesitantly.  
  
"I need light."  
  
The fingers grasped the curtain and pulled it back. Harry saw a brief glimpse of a pale face surrounded by limp hair before he heard a cry and the hand began to sizzle.  
  
Mrs. Weasley leapt up and yanked the curtains shut.  
  
Harry looked up at her. "She's a..."  
  
"Yes," the Weasley matron quietly replied. "All of you that survived were turned."  
  
"They had werewolves and vampires," Harry said, biting back his fear and instead putting up a show of leadership. "Who's what?"  
  
"Both. All of you."  
  
Harry shook his head. It wasn't true. "You're lying."  
  
Mrs. Weasley flinched. "Harry, you saw Hermione."  
  
"That's her. But I...I can't be evil!"  
  
"Harry, not all vampires are evil, and you know most werewolves aren't!"  
  
"I'm not," Harry replied coldly.  
  
He held his hand out into the sunlight. To his shock, his hand began to burn. He drew it back into the safe shadow.  
  
Mrs. Weasley looked at his hand. It was already beginning to heal. "That's the wolf in you," she said matter-of-factly, but her voice was shaking. "You heal better."  
  
Harry laughed bitterly. "Oh, wonderful. I'm a vampire, but I heal four times faster."  
  
Mrs. Weasley said nothing, only held out her arms.  
  
Harry fell into them and let himself cry. 


	3. Strike

REVIEWS! Yippee!  
  
Ahbahh: Wow, where do I begin? Of course Ron was bitten, remember the nasty thing with his ribs? And once again, answer to life/death question in this chapter. Mrs. Weasley isn't really afraid of them because they're close to her and currently they're really weak anyways. And Harry's not her master, quite the opposite is, in fact, she was referring to him as being the master of the Wonder Trio & Co. somewhat.  
  
Hali Jade Snape: I'm afraid you'll be a little disappointed.  
  
Josh Potter: Oh, I'm not going to let Ginny and Harry get together for quite a while, especially since there's the slight complication that she's "dead". And thanks for the suggestion, by the way. Ginny's "evil" so there should be plenty of use for that.  
  
Vicous Pixie: You will find the answer in this chapter! Besides, note the ships.  
  
Just as somewhat of a warning, this is more of the Ron/Lupin/Ginny half of the post-attack recovery. Not much actual action until chapter 4 when they appear again.  
  
Red Moon  
  
Chapter Two: Strike  
  
Ron groaned. His head felt like it was splitting fully in half. Below him he could feel rock, and when he opened his eyes, he saw rock above him. So he was in a cave. Groaning and rolling over, he yelled when his chest struck a rock. The pressure had gone from his skin to his lung to his heart, which, needless to say, hurt quite a bit.  
  
He flopped back onto his back, gasping. He tenderly felt the area that had struck stone. It was the same spot that had been injured the night before, but there was skin over it. However, it felt like there was no bone support- no ribs, which explained why the rock had bruised his heart and lung. Ron frowned. If his heart and lung were bruised, he should theoretically be dead. So...  
  
He flinched like the realization had struck him. The one thing he learned from Snape's lesson on werewolves was that if you were bitten by a werewolf or a vampire or had any contact with their body fluid, be it blood, saliva, whatever, you became one.  
  
He gingerly sat up and looked around. Lupin, still as a wolf, was crouched nearby. At the sight of Ron awake, he ambled over and slowly turned back into a human.  
  
"Turned?"  
  
Ron said nothing, only nodded.  
  
"I've got a nasty scar from that wolf. You seem to have a bit of a problem as well. No one can grow back a missing bone without considerable magical operations, not even a wolf. But veins, arteries and various organs are no problem for a wolf. Which is why whacking yourself in the heart and lung didn't kill you. And where's Ginny?"  
  
A now panicked Ron stood as fast as he could and looked around. "She's not here! You don't think she..."  
  
"No. I was a little conscious when they took us in here. I saw her walking."  
  
Ron sighed in relief and sank to the floor before realizing something else. "But what if she's been bitten by something?"  
  
"Yes, what if she's been bitten?" said a teasing, familiar voice from the back of the cave.  
  
Ron gingerly sat up, wincing, and turned his head. The vampiress from the alley was standing at the back of the cave, carefully avoiding the solitary ray of sunlight beaming onto the cave floor.  
  
"You," he grunted, not having enough air for a proper yell.  
  
He tried to stand, but found he didn't have quite the capacity yet. He flopped back down, gasping. Lupin caught him before he ended up giving himself internal injuries again.  
  
She shook a finger. "Now, now. My master shall be angry if you hurt yourself."  
  
"Your master be damned!" Ron shouted, leaving him, once again, gasping for air.  
  
"I don't think that's really fair, Ron," said Ginny, appearing behind the vampiress's shoulder. "After all, Ursula's just fulfilling a promise."  
  
"A promise to who?" Ron croaked, as Lupin propped him up.  
  
"Who else?" Ginny said, smirking.  
  
A dark-haired woman in her mid-thirties stepped out from behind her. Lupin flinched involuntarily. Bellatrix Lestrange tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Honestly, Weasley, I'd have expected you to have at least some measure of intelligence. Then again, you did seem to tag behind my cousin, so that explains some of it."  
  
Lupin twitched. Ginny stepped forward, and revealed that she, unlike the others, was wearing new robes. Obviously she had been conscious when they came in.  
  
Her eyes were downcast, and her face seemed very pale. Her hair hung around her face in a straggly fashion. Ron began to get a very nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach, a bitter taste rising in his throat to settle on the tip of his tongue.  
  
Ginny lifted her head. Her eyes had become scarlet stars, glaring unblinkingly at their surroundings. She smiled.  
  
And struck. 


	4. Reappearances

I logged on today with the sole purpose of finishing this chapter. Past this they should flow more smoothly, but this caused me a completely unbelievable amount of problems. I'm afraid it's rather pitiful, but it does introduce a very important character.

Well…: It wasn't a flame, it was constructive criticism and gives me a good chance to explain some points. Vampires and werewolves usually don't cooperate but their Master told them to. Their Master can kinda scare the crap out of them, so they generally do what he says. And about turning lupine. I quote Remus Lupin: "I was very young when I received the bite…" This implies that becoming a werewolf involves being bitten, so my theory is, survive the bite and you're in. I know werewolves aren't immortal, but I get the idea they heal much quicker than humans, and also, vampires are immortal. Being hybrids will only extend our heroes' lifetimes by a few centuries. Wizards and witches also seem to be less susceptible to injury and disease (see the HPL article) so those who were bitten by a werewolf before a vampire were bitten when they were unconscious to keep them alive, in sorts, except for Ron, because his magic healed himself, and Lupin, ditto. Lots happened while they were unconscious that'll be covered later.

The exact plan: vampires are evil, due to this thing about losing one's soul I borrowed from Buffy. But the way I figure it, the werewolf half gives hybrids a half-soul, so that they're not quite evil. My example: psychopaths don't know the difference between right and wrong. Sociopaths don't care. Hybrids fall into the latter category.

Red Moon

Chapter Three: Reappearances

Hermione was up all that night. After all, she didn't sleep anymore. Unfortunately, her brain hadn't quite made the switch over to its new format, so it still made her tired. But she fought it, determinedly scanning through dozens of magical law textbooks. She studied and studied, the dawn doing naught but driving herself deeper into the refuge of the black curtains halfway shielding her, until at last she found what she was looking for. Hastily she began to reach over towards the curtain, stopping abruptly when a ray of sunlight beamed into the dark lair.

She snatched her hand back, swearing and nursing three fingers. This sucked. She found what she needed, so where was Mrs. Weasley when she needed her? She sighed in an annoyed fashion and drew in a long breath — rather unnecessary, as she didn't strictly need to breath anymore.

"MRS. WEASLEY!" she shouted.

Several nearby patients awoke and began to complain very loudly and very annoyingly. Hermione ignored them and called again.

"MRS. WEASLEY! I'VE FOUND SOMETHING IMPORTANT!"

She heard footsteps coming her way. Surprised, her ears twitched back, before she remembered the fact that werewolves had heightened senses. She noticed with somewhat of a cool quizzical attitude how logically and analytically she had begun to think of herself.

She felt, rather than heard or saw, Mrs. Weasley taking a seat on the chair. "What is it?"

"A loophole," she said breathlessly. "I've found a loophole! We can keep our wands!"

Instantly the Weasley matron pulled the curtain aside. Hermione hissed and pulled away, but the curtain quickly fell back into place as Mrs. Weasley took a seat on the inside of the bed. "What is it?"

Hermione opened the book to the page her finger marked. "'With the consent of a guardian and a recommendation by another trusted legal adult, a turned vampire under the age of seventeen may keep his or her wand.' But we'll have to work around Umbridge's legislation to get into Hogwarts."

Mrs. Weasley bit her lip and look down at the floor. "Hermione…"

Her heart sank as she read the news on her face. "No — the gang didn't — they were — my parents — "

"I'm sorry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said gently. "They were found just this morning. It was werewolves, for sure."

Her head felt light. There was an odd buzzing in her ears as she fell backwards and her forehead struck the bedpost.

* * *

She awoke to murmurs around the bed. "Shock, apparently."

"No concussion?"

"Healed itself nearly instantaneously. It wasn't too severe."

"Shh, she's awake."

Hermione's eyes slowly cracked open. She resisted, and sat up, rubbing her forehead where it had struck. There were no markings, no pain. A loud bang sounded as the door to the ward burst open. Hermione reached to pull back the curtains and look, pausing just in time.

"Where are they?" a deeply-pitched female voice demanded.

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Weasley said dangerously. "Who are you?"

"I am Mslaba Damu. I was called to destroy the vampires' wands."

Hermione's stomach tightened.

"Over my dead body!" Harry scoffed.

"Technically speaking, Mr. Potter, you are already dead," Damu said coldly. "Tell me, madam, do you have possession of the vampire's wands?"

Hermione couldn't stand another word. She draped her sheet over her head and ducked out of the curtains. "Beg pardon, but I have a say in this."

Mslaba Damu was a petite, chocolate-skinned woman. Her looks were definitely deceiving, though, obvious from the numerous stakes and crosses tucked into her belt and the silver sword buckled around her waist. Her dark, wiry hair was tied into a neat bun with a strand of garlic. Hermione unconsciously leaned away.

"Vampire," Damu hissed, her hand dropping to her sword.

"You would have seen me as a child two days ago."

"That's because you were one."

Harry also ducked out, his head covered in his curtains. "You're not taking our wands."

Damu sneered. "How, pray tell, do you plan to stop me?"

"There is a law that allows the guardians of minors who have been turned to decide whether or not they may keep their wands," Hermione said calmly. "My magical guardian is my third cousin, who lives in Diagon Alley. She can be here in five minutes."

"Harry's magical guardian is me," Mrs. Weasley said fiercely, "and you're not breaking his wand while I'm still breathing." She held out an envelope. "Hermione's cousin was notified. This is the letter she sent back."

Damu snatched it away and tore it open. She scanned it quickly and contemptuously tossed it into a trash can. "So you still have your wands. But you'll be lucky to be allowed to go back to the Muggle world, let alone Hogwarts."

"Professor Dumbledore has already completed the necessary paperwork allowing them to complete school," Mrs. Weasley snapped coldly, crossing her arms. "So your work here is done."

Damu's hard eyes bored into the woman, before she whirled, black cape swirling, and Disapparated. Mrs. Weasley fell back into a chair, and Harry and Hermione once again hid behind the curtains of their beds, sighing quietly.

Out of sight of anyone, Hermione turned away and pulled her blankets over her head. She buried her head in her pillow, muffled her mouth in her sheets, and sobbed, hoping desperately her parents couldn't see her.


End file.
